Lumber-trimmer.



C. E. CLEVELAND.

LUMBER TRIMMER.

APPLIGATION PILEDJAILZ, 1908. RENEWED SEPT. 24, 1912.

1,082,405, Patented Dec. 23, 1913.

\ I' 2 SHEETS-SHEET l. ,1

0. E. CLEVELAND.

LUMBER TRIMMER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 2, 1908. RENEWED SEPT. 24, 1912.

Patented Dec. 23, 1913.

Kati-cur CHARLES E. CLEVELAND, 0F FUND DU LAC, WISCONSIN.

- LUMBER-TRIMMER.

LOSQAltllti.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 23, i913.

Application filed January 2, 1908, Serial No. 408,999. Renewed September 24, 1912. Serial No. 722,125.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. CLEVE- LAND, a citizen of the United States, residin at Fond du Lac, in the county of Fond du Lac and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lumber-Trimmers, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention pertains to improvements in lumber trimmers, the construction and advantages of which will be hereinafter setforth, reference being had to the annexed drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an end elevation, p'artly broken away, of the complete trimmer; Fig. 2 a transverse sectional view of the table, taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 a side elevation of the levers and the valve-casing; Fig. 4 a transverse vertical sectional view thereof, taken on the line 4% of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 a horizontal sectional view, taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4; and Fig. 6 a vertical sectional view of one of the power cylinders and its piston, employed for elevating the saw.

Lumber as it comes from the mill, and after being passed through an edger, is usually placed upon the table of a trimmer and fed over the table so as to be acted upon by the saws which cut the lumber into pieces of any desired length. The saws of such trimmer are so spaced as to cut the lumber into various lengths, and means is provided whereby any one or more of, the series of saws may be moved toward the lumber so as to cut it into the desired length or lengths.

The main object of the present invention is to provide means whereby the saws are positioned through the agency of fluid-pressure.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for controlling the fluidpressure so that any one or more of the saws may be lowered independently of the others, or all of the saws may be lowered simultaneously. The same act-ion obtains with reference to the elevation of the saws, or the drawing of the saws away from the table.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the means which controls the fluid pressure that operates the various saw-positioning devices that all of said means may be operated from a single point.

With these and other objects in view, a description of the invention will be given.

In the drawings, A denotes the table, provided with a series of chain-races in which move the endless chains B, having lugs or knees C which engage the lumber and move it forwardly along the table beneath the saws D. The shaft of each saw is mounted in a bearing or box E, adjustably mounted upon the lower or free end of an arm F. pivoted at G to the lower portion of a frame H. The saw is driven by a band l, which passes about a pulley J. mounted upon a common driving shaft K.

Supported upon the framing of the mill, above each of the swinging radius bars or arms F, is a cylinder L, shown in detail in Fig". 6. Mounted within the cylinder is a piston M, the rod N of which is pivotally connected at its lower end to a rod U, which rod in turn is pivotally connected to the outer end of the radius bar F, or a bracket P secured thereto.

The cylinder is provided with an inlet port Q, near its lower end. A by-pass R extends from said port Q and opens into the lower end of the cylinder, a check-valve S being" placed in said by-pass R. so as to me vent the outward passage of fluid from the cylinder through said bv-pass. Ports (:2 and R are supplied with fluid under pressure through a pipe T.

As will be readily appreciated. with the piston M in'the position shown in Fig. 6, fluid may pass through the pipe T, hy-pass R, oast the check-valve S, and elevate the piston and consequently raise the saw. and the saw will be retained in its elevated posi tion so long: as the pressure is maintained below the piston. lf, however, the pipe T is open to an exhaust, the piston M will descend quite rapidly until the lower end thereof closes the inner end of the port Q, thereby trapping the air between the lower face of the piston and the lower end of the cylinder. The air cannot pass out of this space through the port it, by reason of the check-valve S-being held to its seat by the compressed air trapped between the piston and the lower head of the cylinder. Thus the piston will be cushioned and will slowly settle to its position by reason of the-leakage of the air around the same and past the throughout the length of the casing and communicating with the various ports A formed therein.

Compressed air or other fluid under pressure is constantly supplied to the chamber B through a pipe C, which opens into one end thereof.

A bar or rod 1) extends lengthwise of the valve-casing, said bar being supported in lugs or cars E, preferably formed as an integral portion of the casing. Upon said rod is mounted a series of levers F, there being a lever for each of the piston-valves. As will be seen upon reference to Figs. 3 and 4, the handles or levers F are swiveled upon the rod D and the lower ends of the levers are pivotally connected to the outer ends of the piston-valves Y.

From the foregoing it will be seen that any one of the piston-valves may be controlled independently of the others through the manipulation of its handle F. 'Under some circumstances, however, it may be desirable to throw all of the saws down at one time or to simultaneously elevate those saws which are down, and to this end I provide a rocker-frame, comprising two end members G, each carrying a handle H, with bars I and J extending from the end members, said bars I and J being arranged upon opposite sides of the levers F, so that as the frame is swung to one or the other position the bars will come into contact with the levers F which have been positioned and throw the levers in one or the other direction.

The frame will preferably be mounted upon the ends of the rod D, which extends outwardly beyond the lugs E.

The valve-casing will be located upon a stand K whichis mounted in a cage L in which the operator may sit, the cage being by preference. located above the saw-table, where the full operation of the machine is in view of the operator. By reason-of such position the operator can, as his judgment dictates, release the saws to trim or cut the lumber to the best advantage. Usually logs are out several inches longer than the ultimate standard length, so that when they are cut up into lumber the lumber may be passed over the trimmer and cut to even lengths, thus not only improving the looks of the lumber but saving something in freight when shipment is made, because of having the surplus ends cut off. As the lumber comes from the saw there may be defects in the board, which if out out will raise the grade and thus increase the price of the lumber.

The operator, by reason of his position, and the fact that no manual labor (other than the mere shifting of the valve-lever) is necessary, can at once and with facility manipulate the saws so as to effect the proper adjustment thereof to obtain the best results possible with the lumber which is be ing moved along the table.

As will be manifest upon an inspection of Fig. 1, the saw-operating mechanism is located entirely above the table, so that the mechanism is out of the way and not liable to be injured by the material being operated upon. Furthermore, the floor space is left unobstructed except for the table itself, and both of these points are of manifest advantage.

Having thus I claim isi 1. In combination with a table; a plurality of saws movable toward and from the same; means actuated by fluid pressure for positioning the saws; a separate valve for manually controlling the positioning means of each saw; and means common to all of said valves for simultaneously opening or closing those valves which are otherwise positioned.

2. In combination with a table a plurality of saws movable toward and from the same; means actuated by fluid pressure for positioning the saws; a separate valve for controlling the positioning means of each saw; a series of valve-handles arranged in close proximity to each other, said handles being independently movable; and means common to all of the handles for moving them all simultaneously in one direction or the other, or bringing the differently positioned handles into alinement with the others.

3. In combination with a table; a plurality of saws pivotally supported above the same and normally gravitating toward the table; a cylinder mounted above each of said saws; a piston working in each cylinder and connected with asaw; a source of fluid under pressure; a valve controlling the passage of fluid from said source to the under face of each of the pistons; means for condescribed my invention, what trolling said valves independently; and a device common to all of said means, whereby they may be actuated simultaneously to open or close the valves, or one or more of said means may be brought into alinement with the othermeans.

4:. In combination with a table; a plurality ofsaws pivotally mounted above the same and movable toward and from the table; a cylinder mounted above each of the saws; a piston working in each cylinder; connections between each piston and the saw beneath the same; a valve-casing; means for supplying said casing with fluid under pressure; a valve controlllng the passage of fluid to each of said cylinders; a

valve-handle connected to each of said valves;- and a rocker-frame adapted to inove all of the valves simultaneously from one to the other position, or to bring one or more of said valves into alinement with the other valves.

5. In combination with a table; a plurality of saws pivotally mounted above the same and normally gravitating toward the table; a cylinder mounted above each of the saws; a piston working in each of said cylinders; connections between each of said pistons and the saw beneath the same; a valve for controlling the entrance of fluidpressure into the lower portion of each of the cylinders, said valves being independ ently movable; and means common to all of said valves for actuating them simultaneously, or bringing any one or more of said valves into alinement with the others.

6. In combination with a table; a plurality of saws pivotally mounted above the same and normally gravitating toward the table; a cylinder mounted above each of said saws; a pistonworking in each of said cylinders; connections between each piston and the saw beneath the same; a valve-casing; a series of valves working'in said casing and controlling the exhaust and supply 0 en- 'ings formed therein; a pipe leading rom each supply port or openlng to the lower portion of each cylinder; a series of handles, one for each valve; and a rocker frame provided with bars extending along each side of the handles, whereby one or more of said handles may be moved simultaneously to open or close the valves.

7. In a sawing machine for trimming lumber, the combination of a plurality of saws; means for operating the saws; individual supporting means permitting location'of the respective saws into or out of cutting position; individual fluid-pressure devices for adjusting the respective supporting means to one of said two positions; pipes connecting said fluid-pressure devices to a central polnt of control, manually-operated means at the central point of control for admitting and exhausting the fluid pressure to and from the several pipes for individual control of the respective fluid-pressure devices; and separate manually-operated means for collective control of the respective fluid-pressure devices.

8. In combination with a table; a plurality of saws mounted above and movable toward and from the same; means actuated by fluid pressure for raising or elevating each of said saws independently of the others, said means being likewise mounted above the table and out of the path of travel of the stock to be out; and devices under the direct control of the operator for bringing said means into action, whereby one or more or all of said saws may be positioned as desired.

9. In combination with a table; a plurality of saws mounted above the same and movable independently toward and from the table; means actuated by fluid pressure for independently positioning said saws; and a separate device for manually controlling the positioning means of each saw, said devices being located at a common point within reach of the operator.

10. In combination with a table; a plurality of saws movable toward and from the same; means actuated by fluid pressure for independently positioning each of the saws; a separate device for manually controllin the positioning means of each saw; an means common to all of said devices for moving them, one or more, from one position to another and back again.

11. In a lumber-trimming machine, the combination of a table; a frame hinged at one end at a point above the table; a saw carried at the outer normally free end of said frame; means for driving the saw; a power cylinder located above the free end of the frame; a piston mounted in said cylinder; a iston-rod connected thereto; connections etween said piston-rod and the outer free end of the frame; and means under the control of the operator for admitting fiuid under pressure to said cylinderto raise the saw.

12. In a lumber-trimming machine, the combination of a table; a framework located above the table; a saw-frame pivotally secured to the framework at one end; a saw mounted upon the outer free end of said saw-frame; means for driving said saw; a power cylinder mounted upon the framework in substantial alinement with the free end of the saw-frame; connections between said frame and the piston of said cylinder; and means for admitting fluid under pressure beneath the lower face of the piston and thereby causing the same to be moved upwardly and consequently elevate the sawframe.

13. In a lumber-trimming machine the combination of a table; a framework located above the table; a saw-frame pivotally secured at one end to the. framework; a saw '5 mounted adjacent to the free end of said saw-frame; means for driving said saw; a power cylinder mounted upon the framework in substantial alinementwith the sawframe; connect-ions between said frame and 10 the piston of said cylinder; and, means for admitting fluid under pressure to said cylinder to control the piston and consequently the movement of the saw-frame.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of 15 two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES E. CLEVELAND.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM MODERMOTI, Or'ro P. KOENTOPP. 

